This page is designed to help you seamlessly integrate authentic Indigenous history and perspectives into your classrooms. It contains peer reviewed materials designed to help your school district fulfill regional standards, Education Quality Standards (EQS), and Act 1 Ethnic Studies goals with confidence. It contains frameworks, standards, policy models, and legal documents that help superintendents, principals, and curriculum developers search for.
State & National Standards
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History
The result of a three year state-led collaborative effort, the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards was developed to serve two audiences: for states to upgrade their state social studies standards and for practitioners — local school districts, schools, teachers and curriculum writers — to strengthen their social studies…Continue reading→
National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: A Framework for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
National Council for the Social Studies first published national curriculum standards in 1994. Since then, the social studies standards have been widely and successfully used as a framework for teachers, schools, districts, states, and other nations as a tool for curriculum alignment and development. However, much has changed in the world and in education since…Continue reading→
Common Core Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects
The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (“the standards”) represent the next generation of K–12 standards designed to prepare all students for success in college, career, and life by the time they graduate from high school. The standards establish guidelines for English language arts…Continue reading→
ISTE Standards
The ISTE Standards are a framework that guides educators, leaders and coaches in using technology to create high-impact, sustainable, scalable and equitable learning experiences. Read the 2024 version.
Education Quality Standards
The Education Quality Standards, or EQS, describe what a high-quality education should look like for students attending Vermont’s public schools. The Rules are an update to 1997’s School Quality Standards, and were approved by the Vermont State Board of Education in 2013, going into effect on April 5, 2014. Read more…
Legal & Legislative Information
To ensure district compliance school administrators can reference the following legal foundations for our work.
The legal status of the four State-Recognized Tribes is codified into law under which acknowledges their “historic and cultural contributions of Native Americans to Vermont,” Vermont Statutes Title 1, Chapter 23 (1 V.S.A. § 852)
§ 853a. Recognition of Elnu Abenaki Tribe
The Elnu Abenaki Tribe has filed an application for tribal recognition with the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs and has complied with the recognition requirements contained in subdivisions 853(c)(1)-(9) of this title and is hereby recognized by the State of Vermont as a Native American Indian tribe. (Added 2011, No. 9, § 1, eff. April 22, 2011.)
§ 854. Recognition of Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation
The Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation has filed an application for tribal recognition with the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs and has complied with the recognition requirements contained in subdivisions 853(c)(1)-(9) of this title and is hereby recognized by the State of Vermont as a Native American Indian tribe. (Added 2011, No. 8, § 1, eff. April 22, 2011.)
§ 855. Recognition of Koasek Abenaki of the Koas
The Koasek Abenaki of the Koas has filed an application for tribal recognition with the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs and has complied with the recognition requirements contained in subdivisions 853(c)(1)-(9) of this title and is hereby recognized by the State of Vermont as a Native American Indian tribe. (Added 2011, No. 106 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 7, 2012.)
§ 856. Recognition of Missisquoi, St. Francis-Sokoki Band
The Missisquoi, St. Francis-Sokoki Band has filed an application for tribal recognition with the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs and has complied with the recognition requirements contained in subdivisions 853(c)(1)-(9) of this title and is hereby recognized by the State of Vermont as a Native American Indian tribe. (Added 2011, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 7, 2012.)
Teacher and Admin Training
American Abenaki Curriculum: A Journey of History and Resilience
We are proud to be a partner in the development of the American Abenaki Curriculum: A Journey of History and Resilience. Below are links to the press conference video and related informational content, training videos and the curriculum website itself. Professional Development Abenaki Arts & Education Center’s Director Vera Longtoe Sheehan is the Curriculum Development…
Presenting Abenaki Culture in the Classroom
Immerse yourself in the richness of Abenaki culture and its continuity through music, history, archaeology, weaving, social justice matters, heirloom plants, and Indigenous knowledge. Led by scholars, historians, and culture bearers, this course presents the vibrant regional culture with roots reaching back nearly 13,000 years and thriving in the present. Through a blend of lectures…
Abenaki DEIA Training
Elevate your organization’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through our professional development opportunity. It is designed to empower your staff, fostering a more inclusive, and culturally competent workplace environment. Guided by our facilitators, this training immerses participants in Abenaki history and culture. Interactive discussions and immersive experiences, enable your staff to gain genuine…
Embracing Abenaki Culture in the Classroom
Available to be booked for your teachers. Join us for an immersive exploration of Abenaki culture led by scholars, historians, and culture bearers. This experience spans over 13,000 years of history, with discussions informed by music, history, archaeology, weaving, social justice issues, and heirloom plants central to Abenaki culture. Designed with auditing teachers in mind,…
Water is Life Teach-In
In this all-day workshop, Abenaki Arts & Education Center educators will inspire teachers with interactive, media-rich content that links 12,000 years of Abenaki history with 21st-century civic engagement. Participants will pursue a deeper understanding of the region’s diversity through the voices of the American Abenaki people.
Why do Abenaki Programs Matter?
The following authored articles contextualize regional history and educational framework that support teachers and administrators in understanding why lived experience and representation matter.
Acknowledging a Complicated History and Identity by Vera Sheehan (2025). Introductory essay for educators and administrators to complicated regional history, continuity of culture, and identity.
Decolonizing the History that is Taught in Schools Across the Abenaki Homeland by Vera Sheehan (2020) is the framework and foundation of our work. Culturally sustaining pedagogy and representation ground our work in people and this place. This is also reflected in our work and the American Abenaki Curriculum: A Journey of History and Resilience (2025).
“The colonization of the Northeast did not happen overnight, quite to the contrary it is a long and complicated process, therefore reversing the history of colonization that is taught in our schools is also going to be a complicated process that cannot be done quickly or by one person. It will take all of us working together to make a difference.”
– Vera Sheehan, from Decolonizing the History that is Taught in Schools Across the Abenaki Homeland
By integrating Abenaki Arts & Education Center (AAEC) vetted resources, teacher trainings, and Student Enrichment opportunities, and the American Abenaki Curriculum: A Journey of History and Resilience (2025) educators are correcting historic erasure and school administrators are making a commitment to fulfill the goals of Act 1 (Ethnic Studies) and honor Vermont’s pledge to support the cultural continuity of Vermont’s four State-recognized Tribes.
Education Leadership and Advocacy
- Vermont Association for the Social Studies (VASS). Annual Conference. Presenter and Exhibitor (2017 and 2025)
- Middlebury College, Visiting Instructor for the Department of History of Art & Architecture: Abenaki Art Then and Now (maintains ongoing relationship as Guest Lecturer).
- Saint Michael’s College, Adjunct: Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies, Curriculum and the Arts.
- Vermont State College, Lead Instructor: Present Abenaki Culture in the Classroom (2018 – present)
- University of Vermont (UVM) Larner College of Medicine and the UVM Health Network, 2022 Conference . Mending Ourselves, Together. Presenter and Collaborator. The Abenaki COVID-19 Storytelling Project.
- University of Vermont (UVM) Larner College of Medicine and the UVM Health Network, 2024 Conference . Building Solidarity: Sustainable Pathways towards Health Equity. Presenter and Collaborator. Beyond the Curve: Using Traditional Indigenous Methodology to Address Wellness and Equity.